The invention relates generally to the field of semiconductor surface engineering and in particular to compositions and methods for preparing such compositions and methods capable of modifying a surface of a semiconductor.
The existence of dangling bonds on a semiconductor surface typically create surface states or bound electronic states on the surface, which are electrically active and a primary problem for most semiconductor surfaces and the devices they are suitable for. Various methods to remove dangling bonds and/or to reduce/remove surface states of a semiconductor material have been used over the years to attempt to improve a semiconductor surface; however most methods impede the ability of a solid-state device to behave as designed. In addition, most processes for removing dangling bonds and/or reducing surface states are typically costly and do not consider throughput, which are two important factors to industry. For example, most passivation processes are carried out in vacuum reactors that are very costly and are not conducive to high throughput. Accordingly, there remains a need to develop improved surfaces and methods that do not impede the semiconductor surface and are cost effective and involve high throughput.